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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. shower — rain
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. lie — to recline
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cold — an illness
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. game — a match
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — a measure
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — to wash
  20. game — wild animals
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cold — not warm
  24. foot — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com